The latest process and challenges of microwave dielectric ceramics based on pseudo phase diagrams

The explosive process of 5G communication evokes the urgent demand of miniaturized and integrated dielectric ceramics filter. It is a pressing need to advance the development of dielectric ceramics utilization of emerging technology to design new materials and understand the polarization mechanism. This review provides the summary of the study of microwave dielectric ceramics (MWDCs) sintered higher than 1000 from 2010 up to now, °C with the purpose of taking a broad and historical view of these ceramics and illustrating research directions. To date, researchers endeavor to explain the structure-property relationship of ceramics with multitude of approaches and design a new formula or strategy to obtain excellent microwave dielectric properties. There are variety of factors that impact the permittivity, dielectric loss, and temperature stability of dielectric materials, covering intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Many of these factors are often intertwined, which can complicate new dielectric material discovery and the mechanism investigation. Because of the various ceramics systems, pseudo phase diagram was used to classify the dielectric materials based on the composition. In this review, the ceramics were firstly divided into ternary systems, and then brief description of the experimental probes and complementary theoretical methods that have been used to discern the intrinsic polarization mechanisms and the origin of intrinsic loss was mentioned. Finally, some perspectives on the future outlook for high-temperature MWDCs were offered based on the synthesis method, characterization techniques, and significant theory developments.

L attice V ibrational C haracteristics , Crystal Structure s , and D ielectric P roperties of Li Mn PO 4 Microwave Dielectric Ceramics as a Function of Sintering Temperature

LiMnPO4 (LMP) microwave dielectric ceramics were manufactured at different temperatures via a standard solid-state reaction method, and the LMP ceramic sintered at 750 °C displayed dielectric properties of εr = 7.82, Q × f = 29,189 (f = 12.7 GHz). The lattice vibrational characteristics of LMP ceramics were studied utilizing both infrared reflection and Raman scattering spectroscopy to clarify the basic principle of the dielectric response. The intrinsic properties that were fitted and simulated based on the infrared spectra agreed with the measured property values. The low-frequency vibrational modes contributed more to the dielectric properties than the high-frequency modes. Upon increasing the temperature, the permittivity was positively correlated with the bond length but showed the opposite trend of the Raman shift of mode 9 Ag(υ1). The Q × f value was positively correlated with the packing fraction but negatively correlated with the FWHM of mode 10 Ag(υ3). Thus, the structure-property relationships of LMP ceramics were established as a function of sintering temperature.

Structure, Defects and Microwave Dielectric Properties of Al-Doped and Al/Nd Co-doped Ba4Nd9.33Ti18O54 Ceramics

Low-loss tungsten-bronze microwave dielectric ceramics are a kind of dielectric materials with potential application value for miniaturized dielectric filters and antennas in 5G communication technology. In this work, a novel Al/Nd co-doping method of Ba4Nd9.33Ti18O54 (BNT) ceramics with a chamical formula of Ba4Nd9.33+z/3Ti18-zAlzO54 (BNT-AN, 0 ≤ z ≤ 2) was proposed to improve the dielectric properties through structural and defect modulation. Together with Al-doped ceramics (Ba4Nd9.33Ti18-zAl4z/3O54, BNT-A, 0 ≤ z ≤ 2) for comparison, the ceramics were prepared by solid state method. It is found that Al/Nd co-doping method has a significant effect on improving the dielectric properties compared with Al doping. As the doping amount z increased, the relative dielectric constant (εr) and the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (τf) of the ceramics decreased, and the Q×f values of the ceramics obviously increased when z ≤ 1.5. Excellent microwave dielectric properties of εr = 72.2, Q×f = 16480 GHz, and τf = +14.3 ppm/℃ were achieved in BNT-AN ceramics with z = 1.25. Raman spectroscopy and thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) technique were firstly combined to analyze the structure and defects in the dielectric ceramics. It is shown that the improvement on Q×f values were origined from the decrease in the strength of the A-site cation vibration and the concentration of oxygen vacancies (Vö), demonstrating the effect and mechanism underlying for structural and defect modulation on the performance improvement of microwave dielectric ceramics.